Folding clothes hanger



May 19, 1931s J. BECKER 1,&@5,561

FOLDING CLOTHES HANGER Filed July 31, 1929 d9 earf'er.

INVENTOR Patented May 19, 1931 a p v UNITED, STATES,

.rosnrn encxnn, or MonronAImNEwJER-snir r romaine names nalvenn Application filed J'ui ei, 1929." Serial no. 382,435.

Thisinvention relates to garment supports and more particularly to a device known as a garment hanger and by means "of which clothes may be suspended from a hookor other support.

At the presenttime it is customary to form' a garment hanger with a body portion to extend transversely through the upper portion of the garment and this body portion is rigid 1G throughout its length. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the hanger as it cannot be easily passed through the neck openingof a,

garment closed at the front and it is also difficult to remove it' and, in fact, a garment s madeoflight materialisjliable tobetorn whenapplying or removing a: rigid hanger. Therefore, one object of the invention is to provide a hanger including-a bar, or bodyipor tion formed of companion sections or arms adapted to be moved from an extended posi-' tion for use to a folded position and allow the hanger to beveryeasily put in place Within a garment or remove Another object of the invention is to pro-' 5.5 vide the hanger with a support engaging ele-- inent so formed that it may also servea'sfla' latch by means of which the pivoted arms of the hanger may be securely but releasably retained'in an extended position.

Another object of the invention is to so form the improved hanger that it will be very simple in its construction and'a'llowed to be easily operated. V k c I x The invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawings, wherein V p Figure lis a perspective viewof the improved garment hanger, Y

Fig. 2 is a view showing thehanger in' front elevation and by dotted lines indicat ing the manner inwhich it may be folded,

,Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, r r p I Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken transversely through the hangeron the line -Aof Fig; 3.

Fig. 5 is aperspective view showing the hanger folded, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentarytop plan view of a modified construction. This improved garment hanger consists 0 9a body portion formed of companion arms 1 by a rivet 4. It will thus be seen that, while the arms arepermanently connected, they -may be folded, as indicated by dotted lines 1n Fig.2, and thereby allowed to be'easily passed through a small neck opening in a dress-orothergarment of a small child and then swungtoan extended position. The

"supporten'gaging-element 3 is formed of Wire and: has an upper portion orhook consisting of a strand bent to provide a bill 7 5" andfshank 6. The lower portion of the.

shank flattened, as shown at 7, and its inner face is notched to forniafsocket or seat 8.

The lower portion of the support-engaging andthisstrand is bent to form a stem 9 rotatably received in a groove 10 formed in the inner endportion of the arm 1 although it' couldbe formed in the arm 2." Arms 11 and 12 e'xtendfroim theupper and lower ends of thestem 9 and from these arms project jaws -l3and 14 terminating in side extensions or 1 'fingers'15and16g -These side extensions-15 and 16 are of sufficient length to extend across the upper and lower edge faces of the arms 1 and 2 and the extension '15carries an upstafndi'ng'fpost 17 to which the flattened lower. end of the shank 6 is 'pivoted'by a rivet or equivalent fastener"18. At the upper end of the post is formed-atooth19 adapted to engage in the socket 8 and releasably retain the hook or} upper portion of the support-engaging element in 1 a raised position;

element is also formed from'a Wire strand Therefore, this hookmay be'disposed in 'a' raised position when the hanger'is in use and when the" hangeris'folded the hook may be swung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5. The lower portion of the supportlbs engaging element constitutes a clamp adapted to be swung from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the operative position shown in Fig. 1 in which the jaws 13 and 14 together with their extensions 15 and 16 extend across the upper and lower edge faces of the overlapped inner end portions of the two sections 1 and 2 and serve to securely but releasably hold the sections extended. In order to prevent movement of the jaws when swung toward an operative position, there has been provided pins 20 and 21 which projectfrom the upper and lower edge faces of the two arms 0 the hanger and each ofthese pins consists of a short strand of wire having one end bent to project from the hanger arm and its other end bent to form a spur 22 driven into the arm. The intermediate portion 23 extends longitudinally of the'arm and constitutes a wear-resisting element over which the jaw moves, as shown in Figs. 2 and Therefore, the clamp will be prevented from cutting grooves in the upper and lower edge faces of the two armsl and 2.

When the improved garment hanger is in use, the support-engaging element is swung to the inoperativeposition shown in Fig. 5 with the hook extending upwardly and the hanger may be easily passed through the neck of a garment. The arms are then extended and the support-engaging element turned to the operative position. lVhen so moved, the jaws extend across the upper and lower edge faces'of the overlapped inner end portions of the two arms and retain them extended with the hook projecting upwardly for. engagement with a support. \Vhen the hanger is to be removed,.the support-engag ing element is again turned to the releasing position and the arm 2 may be swung to a folded position and the hanger. easily removed. If it is desired to pack the hanger in asuit case or place it in a bureau drawer without the hanger occupying a large amount of space, it will be folded and the hook then swun downwardly out of the way.

In igure 6, there has been shown a slightl modified construction. Referring to this gure, it will be seen that the two arms 24 and 25 have their inner end portions 26 and 27 reduced-in thickness so thatwhen they are overlapped and pivotally connected by a rivet 28, the side faces of the two sections will be flush. Therefore, the intermediate portion of the hanger will be of the samethickness as the remaining portions thereof.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising arms pivoted toeach other for movement from an extended position to a folded position, and support-engaging means niovably carried by one arm only and movable into and out of position-to engage the other arm and retain the armsin an extended position. I

2. A garment hanger comprising arms having their inner ends overlapped and pivotally mounted for swinging from an extended to a folded position, and a supportengaging element having a stem turnably mounted and provided with portions to engage the arms and retain the arms extended.

3. A garment hanger comprising arms having their inner ends overlapped and pivotally mounted for swinging from an extended to a folded position, and a supportengagingelement having a stem rotatably received in a seat formed adjacent the inner end of one arm to turnably mount said element and bent to provide means for engagingthe inner end portions of the arms and secure the arms extended.

4. A garment hanger comprising arms ha"- ing their inner ends overlapped and pivotally mounted for swinging from an extended to a folded position, and a supportengaging element having a stem passed through a seat adjacent the inner end of one arm to turnably mount said element and bent above and below the said arm to provide extensions adapted to engage across the upper and lower faces of the inner end portions of the arms and secure the arms extended.

5. A garment hanger comprising arms having their inner ends overlapped and pivotally mounted for swinging from an extended to a folded position, and a supportengaging elementhaving a stem passed through an opening adjacent the inner end of one arm to turnably mount said element and bent above and below the said arm to provide extensions adapted to engage across the upper and lower faces of the arms and retain the arms extended, and guards having portions extending longitudinally of the lastmentioned arm and provided with upstanding abutments to engage the extensions when moved to a securing position.

6. A garment hanger comprising arms having their inner end portions overlapped and pivotally connected, and a support-engaging element having a lower portion pivotally carried by one arm and formed with jaws to extend across upper and lower faces of the arms and secure the arms in a set position.

7; A garment hanger comprising arms having their inner end portions overlapped and pivotally connected, and a support-engaging elementhaving a lower portion pivotally carriedby one arm only and formed with jaws to extend across upper and lower edge faces of the arms and secure the arms in a set position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOSEPH BECKER. [n s] lib 

